Centre to resolve issues in the Tourism and Civil Aviation Sector

Panjim, Jan 17: I am happy to inform you that the Central Ministry for Civil Aviation has taken note of various bottlenecks affecting the growth of the tourism sector in Goa and has consented to solve them at the earliest. A delegation led by me met the Central Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri P. Ashok Ganjapathi Raju in New Delhi on January 16, 2015 and submitted a memorandum on issues concerning Goa Tourism and the aviation sector.

Some of the issues discussed pertained to the Open Sky Policy for Dabolim Airport, Liberalizing air traffic rights regime for charter operators coming into Dabolim International Airport, Revision of the Charter Policy at the national level, Revision of airport fees/charges for Scheduled and Non-Scheduled flights at Dabolim International Airport. Other issues discussed pertained to incentives for Charter Operators operating Scheduled and Non-Scheduled into Goa, development of MRO facilities at Dabolim International Airport, Code share arrangements with domestic carriers for Scheduled and Non-Scheduled international flights.

The delegation led by me also met Dr Mahesh Sharma, the Hon’ble Minister for Tourism and Culture, Govt. of India and the Minister of State for Civil Aviation , for a focused discussion on issues which are adversely affecting Goa tourism this season. The discussions covered issues related to Central Financial Assistance under different schemes of the Ministry of Tourism, Central Financial Assistance for marketing and promotion activities carried out by Goa Tourism, the Open Sky Policy for Dabolim Airport and Modification of E-visa regime announced recently.

We also reiterated the demand for Revision of the Charter Policy at the national level and relaxation of airport fees and charges at Dabolim International Airport.

We also took up the matter pertaining to relaxation of naval restrictions on operating timings at Dabolim International Airport and relaxation of NDZ line in CRZ notification. The discussions with Shri Ashok Ganjapathi and Dr Sharma were successful and they have assured to resolve each of the issues raised by us at the earliest.

The Minister for Tourism Shri Dilip Parulekar said, “I am confident that the Union Ministries for Civil Aviation and Tourism and Culture will find solutions which will work in the interest of Goa Tourism and help boost tourism in Goa which is the most ‘Preferred Holiday Destination’ for both international and domestic tourists.”

We are also happy to inform you today that the Visa On Arrival (VOA) facility at the Goa Airport, Dabolim, is receiving an overwhelming response and Goa Airport at Dabolim has crossed the 5,000 mark issuing 5,117 VOAs as on January 16, 2015.

“We are also pursuing with the Central government under the leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, to include countries namely UK, Poland, Denmark and Sweden in the list for issue of VOA to these foreign nationals,” Shri Parulekar said.